[Presence scholars should lead the way in making sure everyone involved considers and addresses the challenges created by evolving technologies, as highlighted in this column from Futurism. –Matthew] [Image: “Reality is An Illusion” by Louis Dyer via Deviant Art] Will AI Blur the Lines Between Physical and Virtual Reality? By Jay Iorio, Innovation Director for the IEEE Standards Association August 15, 2017 The Notion of Reality As technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), big data, 5G, and the internet of things (IoT) advance over the next generation, they will reinforce and spur one another. One plausible…

[This post from the MIT Media Lab website (it also appears in Medium and IEEE Spectrum) is a first-person report on a program of research that examines children’s social (medium-as-social-actor presence) responses to robots; I think it’s a model for how to introduce a wider audience to these ideas (e.g., I plan to assign and discuss it in undergraduate courses). The original version includes several more pictures and a video. –Matthew] [Image: A child listens to DragonBot tell a story during one of our research studies. Credit: Personal Robots Group] Making new (robot) friends Understanding children’s relationships with social robots…

[This post from Google’s blog reports on interesting results and lessons learned from an experiment in presence. The original includes more images; for more information see coverage in Daily Coffee News. –Matthew] Daydream Labs: Teaching Skills in VR Ian MacGillivray, Software Engineer July 20, 2017 You can read every recipe, but to really learn how to cook, you need time in the kitchen. Wouldn’t it be great if you could slip on a VR headset and have a famous chef walk you through the basics step by step? In the future, you might be able to learn how to cook…

[This story from 4K describes options for experiencing next week’s total solar eclipse via technology. The CNN press release notes that “While only a fraction of the country will be able to witness the total eclipse in-person, CNN’s immersive livestream will enable viewers nationwide to ‘go there’ virtually and experience a moment in history, seven times over.” For more information about all aspects of the eclipse see coverage on the NASA website. –Matthew] Where to Watch The 2017 Total Solar Eclipse In Full 4K And Virtual Reality by Stephen on August 14, 2017 Although not even the best 4K OLED…

[This story from CNBC highlights the need for robot designers to carefully consider the range of responses, including medium-as-social-actor presence responses, their creations will evoke. For more on this topic see the recent story in Psychology Today’s blog “How do We Read Emotions in Robots? Of social robots, innovation spaces, and creatively trying things out.” –Matthew] Next-gen robots: The latest victims of workplace abuse Robots must contend not just with internal flaws and bugs but with humans. Recent introductions of robots to everyday scenarios have led people to initiate some intriguing forms of interaction. Knightscope’s security bot, for example, has…

[This short interview from the Vive blog is about the use of virtual reality and presence to explore a universal experience in a visceral, first-person way. The original blog post includes a second image; for a text and audio report on the experience that includes more images see coverage by Southern California Public Radio (SCPR); and a 0:39 minute trailer is available on YouTube. –Matthew] Take a trip to The Other Side in Flatline Stephen Reid August 3, 2017 What happens at the exact moment of death? Religion and science disagree, but many survivors of near-death experiences have similar stories…